Empty nest syndrome cooker needs help!!

Kim, I don't believe Curtis Stone ever sees these questions; if he does, it doesn't seem as though he responds.

It sounds as if you are cooking things that don't do well as leftovers. You might try navigating a community cooking site to view recipes which are similar to those you're preparing; many such sites have programs which allow you to adjust the ingredients for quantity of servings desired.

I like Recipezaar.com but there are lots of other sites out there, just browse until you find a site which suits you.

I have gone through this same situation. I have devised a couple of things that help me out of this quandary. One thing I do is I make a “Take Out” dinner for my daughter and her family. To do this I call or email my daughter a day or two before and let her know that I am making such and such in a few days. I tell her to drop by on her way home from work. Then I cook the meal as I am used to and once it’s done I basically split it up. I put hers in one of those disposable foil pans, taking care to separate any cold items from the hot items. Then she literally drives up, I run the food out to her and she takes the food home. It helps her out and me.

Another thing I do is to do the same basic thing but with my neighbors. At least once a week I make something and take it to my neighbor, and either later that week or the next week they make something and bring it to me. That works out nice because some weeks I only have to cook 3 or 4 nights out of 7. It’s also a wonderful way to get to know your neighbors and to try different recipes and cooking styles. My neighbors and I really enjoy this. I know it might seem strange at first, but after the first few times it gets to be a part of everyone’s routine.  Hope this helps.

Freezing works well on things with out starch in them. So gravy is a no no. But you can freeze the stock you make gravy with. Having these in small batches so you can take them out as you need them works good. That way you can cook them on a large scale and store them on a smaller scale. The only starch that freezes well once cooked is parboiled rice, like Uncle Bens. But Southern style dishes like Red Beans&Rice freeze well. But if you want to get into canning, then you can store things like chicken and dumplings, Gravy and other dishes with starches. Southern cooking is so good (raised in Mississippi) but it needs to be fresh or recipies cut in half, which is hard for us that don't measure a thing.